"Apple Seeds"® begins its 22nd year of sowing
"seeds" of inspiration and motivation. The intent of this publication is to
provide quotations and short stories from eclectic sources that promote positive attitudes
and personal development of holistic human potentialfrom tiny seeds to ripened
fruit. Your favorite quotes, stories or suggestions that would enhance "Apple
Seeds"® are appreciated.

"Sooner or later busy people learn to write things down. It’s the best way
to capture things we are apt to forget. ‘The strongest memory,’ says an old
Chinese proverb, ‘is weaker than the palest ink.’"

"All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty
recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the
dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open
eyes to make it possible."

"…[T]he library and the professor’s lecture are both
remembered primarily for their value as information gateways. The students
gained access to information through the library or the words of the
professor. The problem is that if someone asks me what I want to achieve in my
classes, it is not to provide access to information. I want to provide access
to knowledge. The difference between information and knowledge is subtle but
important. Knowledge is what you do with information. Knowledge is how you
make meaning out of information. And, usually, you gain knowledge through an
interactive process—by interacting with someone or by doing some critical
analysis or further exploration of the information. Achieving knowledge
requires a much richer and more complicated environment than that required for
accessing information."

"Man is the kind of creature who cannot be whole except he be committed,
because he cannot find himself without finding a center beyond himself. In
short the emancipation of the self requires commitment."

"Humility is a clear awareness of our limitations, the openness to
learning, correction and change, the desire to serve rather than pontificate,
coupled with a realization of our significance which is neither exaggerated
nor undervalued. Humility is not a denial of our worth or integrity, nor an
apology for our existence."

"At a recent conference, the speaker reminded the audience, ‘If you really
knew and understood the pain others bear, your compassion would lead you to
tears most of your life.’"

Stories Communicate . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . Ernest Kurtz,

The Spirituality of Imperfection, p. 17

"Stories are the vehicle that moves metaphor and image into experience.
Like metaphors and images, stories communicate what is generally invisible and
ultimately inexpressible. In seeking to understand these realities through
time, stories provide a perspective that touches on the divine, allowing us to
see reality in full context, as part of its larger whole. Stories invite a
kind of vision that gives shape and form even to the invisible, making the
images move, clothing the metaphors, throwing color into the shadows. Of all
the devices available to us, stories are the surest way of touching the human
spirit."

"Success is nothing more than a few simple disciplines practiced every day;
while failure is simply a few errors in judgment, repeated every day. It is
the accumulative weight of our disciplines and our judgments that leads us to
either fortune or failure."

"What was most important in life for Karl Rahner, and most fundamental? He
answered that question himself in these words: ‘If in my life I have done a
little bit to help a few people to dare address God, to think of Him, to
believe in Him, to hope and to love—then, I think my life has been
worthwhile.’"

An Indian guide, who displayed uncanny skills in navigating the rugged
regions of the Southwest, was asked how he did it. "What’s your secret of being
an expert tracker and trail blazer?" a visitor asked him.

The guide answered, "There’s no secret. One must only possess the far
vision and the near look. The first step is to determine where you
want to go; then you must be sure that each step you take is a step in that
direction."

The Dad was about to surrender when he noticed an elderly couple walking
together to return their cart. After a moment he said, "Son, there are two
kinds of people in this world: those who put their carts away and those who
don’t. We are the kind that returns their shopping cart. Now go return the
cart!"

Obviously, this story is about more than grocery carts. It’s about doing
the right thing in a world that promotes rationalizations and excuses, and
demeans or trivializes simple acts of virtue. I suppose another way of putting
it is—There two kinds of people: Those who have the character to do what they
ought to and those who find reasons not to.

People of character do the right thing even if no one else does, not
because they think it will change the world, but because they refuse to be
changed by the world.